Entertainment

Vince Carter flushed the greatest dunk of all time 15 years ago today

Before the time of Vine, before the age of Twitter, before the epoch of Instagram and the era of the viral sports highlight, one Vincent Lamar Carter threw down the filthiest, nastiest, sickest, illest and all-around greatest slam dunk in the history of mankind.

Vince Carter's transcendent moment came 15 years ago this Friday, against France at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Now let's say a prayer for Carter's victim, one Frederic Weis, a man who will forever be remembered for being on the wrong end of history.

With Team USA already beating France 69-54, the 6-foot-6 Carter made a steal in the backcourt. He dribbled toward the rim. In his way was Weis, who stood a whopping 7-foot-2 and had been drafted 15th overall by the New York Knicks the previous summer. But Carter did not juke Weis. He did not even dunk on him, which would have been impressive enough.

Rather, Carter literally dunked over Weis, clearing the giant for a one-hand flush. He took off in front of Weis, hurdled him completely, then landed behind him as the French foil could only turn his head and gape in disbelief.

You can watch the dunk below in Vine form, or check out the full video embedded atop this post. Either way, it's impossible not to watch again and again and again...and again...and again...

Once could argue about this for days, but many basketball aficionados now consider Carter-on-Weis to be the greatest in-game slam ever dunked.

Media in France nicknamed it le dunk de la mort — the dunk of death. The reaction of Carter's teammate Kevin Garnett (wearing number 10) in this photo says everything:

Carter was 23 years old when he threw down le dunk de la mort, and the phenomenon known as "Vinsanity" was at its apex heading into the 2000 Olympics. Before "Linsanity" — a social media sensation if ever there was one — the NBA had this, so named for Carter's amazing dunking ability. Vinsanity had fans atwitter well before Twitter was even a glimmer in Jack Dorsey's eye.

Just a few months before the Olympics, Carter had put on what is still one of the greatest NBA Slam Dunk Contest showings of all time at All-Star Weekend in Oakland:

So legendary was Carter's performance in that contest that NBA.com saw fit to publish an oral history about the 2000 dunk-off this past season. For those in the know, however, Carter had been a slam-dunk superhero since his college days at North Carolina.

You don't see them nearly as often, but Carter's college highlights rival some of his most astonishing moments as a pro. Have a look:

Carter is currently 38 years old and on the tail end of a legendary career that includes eight NBA All-Star selections. As for Weis? The New York Times caught up with him in July, and it's not a pretty picture.

The Times piece, of course, notes that Weis getting hurdled by Carter "transformed him into an on-court victim." But that was just the beginning of Weis' troubles. Despite being a star in France and first-round pick by the Knicks, his NBA career never materialized. He struggled with alcohol abuse, attempted suicide at least once and still battles depression. He now runs a convenience store in Limoges, France.

On Friday's 15th anniversary, Carter was asked by TrueHoopTV what he'd say to Weis if they met again today. Carter said "the first thing" he'd do is apologize for the moment that will define them both forever:

Much like Allen Iverson and a select handful of other players, Carter is a giant of the game whose flair, style and ability to pull off the seemingly impossible will forever outweigh more traditional measures of greatness such as championships or scoring titles. Never was everything that made Vince Carter an icon crystallized better than at the Olympics 15 years ago Friday.

Now, perhaps all this has only whetted your appetite to relive more of Vince Carter at the height of this powers. If so, you're in luck! Here's a 10-minute countdown of 100 of his greatest dunks — number one is no surprise:

Sports Fails

1. Golf Cart Fail

This runaway vehicle wreaked minor on-field havoc following a high school football championship in Texas last December. But a heroic bystander hopped aboard and put on the brakes.

No casualties occurred, and the clip immediately became Internet legend.

2. Penalty Kick Fail

Watch out for the ricochet, goalie! This kid gets it in the right in the chops.

3. Mascot on Rollerblades Fail

What happens when you put an inflatable dinosaur on rollerblades and ask it to skate down a flight of stairs? Amazingness, that's what.

4. Flopping Fail

In sports, to "flop" is to exaggerate the force of contact in hopes of drawing a favorable call from officials. But you've got to time it much, much better than this guy does.

5. Hockey Celebration Fail

Apparently, if you hug a member of the opposite team after scoring a goal in hockey, you will get punched in the face.

6. Innocent Bystander Fail

This kid is just in the wrong place at the wrong time...to the benefit of the rest of us.

7. Representing Your School Fail

College football mascots are supposed to represent their schools in a fun, positive light — which doesn't typically include picking fights. Here, the University of Oregon's duck slams the University of Houston's cougar.

Bonus points for the sick elbow drop, though.

8. Weightlifting Fail

Not saying we could successfully lift 432 pounds above our heads, but dang, that looks painful.

German weightlifter Matthias Steiner dropped this massive barbell on his neck during the London Olympics this summer, but escaped serious injury.

9. Trampoline Dunk Fail

Sometimes, when you fail, you actually win.

10. Hurdling Fail

Why jump over hurdles when you could just RUN STRAIGHT THROUGH THEM?

File under: Never, Ever Gets Old.

11. Paying Attention Fail

After what could best be described as an "optimistic" shot attempt in a game last season, NBA center JaVale McGee showed some nice hustle getting back on defense. Only problem? His team still had the ball.

12. Judgment Fail

But that wasn't McGee's only legendary moment. Here, he shows why it's not a good idea to try dunking from the free throw line mid-game.

13. Olympic Promo Fail

For some reason, London's Olympic promotions this summer involved hanging Mayor Boris Johnson on a zipline while waving a pair of tiny flags.

Then he got stuck halfway through and it was pretty much the best, funniest, awkwardest thing that could have happened.

14. Grand Slam Celebration Fail

Major Leaguer Kendry Morales broke his lower left leg while celebrating a game-winning grand slam in 2010. This edited video provides the before, during and after rundown.

15. Slam Dunk Fail

See? White guys can jump? It's just the landing that's the hard part.

16. High Dive Fail

The announcer here sums it up perfectly. She calls this attempt from the 1992 Olympics "an absolute failed dive."

17. Piggyback Ride Fail

What begins as an innocent enough piggyback ride atop a fuzzy mascot turns into a pretty epic collision — and YouTube gold.

18. Long Jump Fail

Dude! If you're gonna pump up the crowd like that, you can't just faceplant into the sand.

19. Touchdown Celebration Fail

When you think about it, is there any better way to celebrate a touchdown than by pegging an unsuspecting spectator in the face? Bonus points for originality, at least.

20. Pro Golfer Fail

You'd think a professional golfer could put the ball in the hole with less than 16 strokes. Kevin Na — and the rest of the world — found out otherwise on this par-four hole at the 2011 Valero Texas Open.

21. Head-First Slide Fail

Well, that's one way of doing it...right?

22. Time Management Fail

Tie game, clock winding down — it's always better to get one last attempt up than just let the game go into overtime. A full court desperation heave with a 11 seconds to go is never the way to do it, however.

This classic gaffe by the University of Connecticut's Roscoe Smith came during a matchup of top teams in 2011.

23. Boogie Boarding Fail

Its veracity may be suspect, but this 2008 YouTube classic has more than 12.7 million views, despite a mind-numbing soundtrack.

24. Sportsmanship Fail

The summer of 2011 was a tough time for NBA star LeBron James. It was full of lingering ill-will for his decision to the leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and snarky schadenfreude over his initial failure to win a championship with the Miami Heat.

So it makes perfect sense that he'd let off some steam by viciously dunking on a tiny kid at summer camp, right? That's what happens at the 0:43 mark of this video.

25. Standing on a Basketball Hoop Fail

We're not quite sure why this mascot thought standing on top of a basketball rim was a good idea.

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